Whirlpool Port on Electric Boil Kettle- Is Tangential Inlet Better?

[micraftbeer]

I'm putting together a 15-gallon electric boil kettle. I mainly make 5 gallon batches, but occasionally do 10+ if I'm doing split batch experiments. My current kettle has an NPT fitting up top that I pump recirculated wort into, and then it goes down a whirlpool arm to the bottom of the kettle and makes a 90-degree bend to make a clockwise flow. It works great for whirlpooling and getting the hops accumulated in the middle of the kettle before transferring to my fermentor. What I don't like is that it's an NPT fitting and not a TC fitting, and TC fittings are so easy to remove and clean. And the long tubing can't get scrubbed unless it all gets disassembled.

I was looking at changing this up on my next kettle and going for either a TC port and just a 90-degree pickup tube, or a tangential inlet port. Anyone have experience with tangential inlet port and have comments on pros/cons with those?

 

[JasperAK]

I'm putting together a 15-gallon electric boil kettle. I mainly make 5 gallon batches, but occasionally do 10+ if I'm doing split batch experiments. My current kettle has an NPT fitting up top that I pump recirculated wort into, and then it goes down a whirlpool arm to the bottom of the kettle and makes a 90-degree bend to make a clockwise flow. It works great for whirlpooling and getting the hops accumulated in the middle of the kettle before transferring to my fermentor. What I don't like is that it's an NPT fitting and not a TC fitting, and TC fittings are so easy to remove and clean. And the long tubing can't get scrubbed unless it all gets disassembled.

I was looking at changing this up on my next kettle and going for either a TC port and just a 90-degree pickup tube, or a tangential inlet port. Anyone have experience with tangential inlet port and have comments on pros/cons with those?

What did you find out / end up doing? I was just searching to see if anyone has a method or hardware to add this type of inlet port.

 

[micraftbeer]

Dang, I was all excited to see a reply... I haven't gotten any opinions. Given that I don't see them offered by many kettle vendors, they must not be that popular. It seems BIAB folks would benefit from not having something else inside the main surface of the kettle, and it seems BIAB is popular. I don't do BIAB, I'm just thinking the simpler interface will be easier to clean.

 

[Bobby_M]

I have been putting the whirlpool return under the false bottom for BIAB so its not in the way at all. Tangential is great but the welding technique is a pain in the ass. I can sanitary weld a perpendicular TC port into a kettle in 15 minutes. Tangential might take two hours.